Q4 Output Slate Takes Hit

A month after automakers first said planned fourth-quarter output would fall 115,900 units short of the prior-year tally, production planners have erased another 34,000 cars and trucks from the October-December slate.

Revised plans call for production of 1,438,100 cars and 2,847,300 trucks in the final three months of the year, down from 1,454,700 and 2,864,700, respectively. Compared with like-2016, the overall fourth-quarter slate is down 3.4% to 4,285,400 from 4,435,300.

The bulk of the cutback, 16,200 units or 46.7%, occurs this month, with November plans down 12,900 vehicles. The revised December tally now is 4,900 below where it was at the beginning of September.

Light trucks account for 51.2% of the Q4 cutback and cars the remainder.

Eight of 14 LV manufacturers have trimmed Q4 production plans, led by a 21,500 reduction at General Motors, the bulk of it, 15,500 units, light trucks.

In addition, industry medium- and heavy-truck output is down 400 units.

On the other hand, five manufacturers have added a total of 16,700 cars and light trucks to their Q4 slates, ranging from a net 7,800 at Toyota, where light-truck output is up 10,300 units, to 1,500 at BMW.

The latest round of cutbacks follows a further decline of 33,600 vehicles in July-September, to 4,114,800, including an estimated September shortfall of 19,100 units. That comes on the heels of a 99,900-unit third-quarter reduction at the beginning of September, all of it due to slower than anticipated new LV sales.

Output for the year now is expected to reach 17,566,500 units, 3.2% less than the 18,151,300 cars and trucks built in 2016, with cars off 11.5% and trucks ahead by 1.6%.